National Cancer Institute unveils new effort to speed drugs to researchers

ASHINGTON — In the Obama administration’s final days, the National Cancer Institute is establishing an ambitious new program designed to allow scientists to more quickly access new drugs and compounds for novel research.

One of the last achievements of Vice President Joe Biden’s cancer moonshot initiative before he leaves office, the program was unveiled Wednesday and will begin as an agreement between the institute and six drug companies.

The hope is that the arrangement, in which NCI will act as an intermediary between outside researchers and drug makers, will make it easier for scientists to pursue new combination therapies for cancer, which are widely seen as one of the most promising avenues for better cancer treatment.

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Currently, if investigators want to combine two therapies made by different companies in a new preclinical or clinical trial study, they must negotiate a contract on their own with the firms. Data and intellectual property rights, along with many other details, must be worked out before the study can start.

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“It’s very difficult for investigators or physicians to be able to get access to different types of drugs,” said Kim Harrow, vice president of clinical operations at Xcovery, a firm working on lung cancer therapies and participating in the program.

Harrow said she was aware of proposed studies that had been stuck in such negotiations for two years or more. Investigators might not be equipped to handle those negotiations, or companies might not have the bandwidth to negotiate individually with different researchers.

“I think, particularly for the investigator-initiated trials, it can be much more difficult,” said Dr. Christopher Slapak, vice president of early-phase clinical research at Eli Lilly and Co. “It never rises high enough in the company’s priorities for all the work they have to do.”

Under this new arrangement, known as the NCI Formulary, the agency will act as an intermediary between scientists at NCI-designated research centers across the country and drug makers. Companies agree to review proposed studies within 60 days, and there will be set standards for data and intellectual property rights.

At its start, six companies — Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Kyowa Kirin, Loxo Oncology, and Xcovery — are participating in the program, making 15 agents available. NCI officials say they are currently negotiating with a “substantial” number of other companies to add more therapies to the formulary.

That will be perhaps the biggest challenge for the initiative: Can it prove that the process works smoothly enough that other companies see a benefit to participating?

“It’s got to work well, it’s got to work fast, it’s got to be frictionless,” Dr. George Demetri, a bone oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and member of the American Association for Cancer Research, told STAT.

For the project to reach its full potential, more companies and more agents must be introduced into the system, industry officials say.

“If we can really get traction with this, and get some drugs there in the formulary, I think this could be great for patients,” said Dr. Julie Hambleton, head of US Medical at Bristol-Myers Squibb. “But it, of course, will depend on what companies come and engage in this and what drugs they put in this formulary.”

It could also allow researchers to test combinations for rare cancers and indications that the companies on their own might not be interested in pursuing because they’re not “as lucrative,” said Xcovery’s Harrow.

“There is a huge role for investigator-initiated research, being the engine of discovery for new compounds and new signals,” said Jeff Allen, president and CEO of the Friends of Cancer Research, a nonprofit organization. “That’s where this plays a really unique role in the ecosystem of R&D. The larger the formulary can become, the more potential that it has.”

Biden’s “moonshot” is not disimilar to the approach of past politicians with their proclaimed, “war on cancer”. At best it is misguided. While we need drugs to help people live longer, the battle is essentially lost and has been for decades. We are the throwing money at the disease; it looks good, and it feels good but it won’t stop the disease. The practice just fuels the economy by putting money in the hands of companies with cashflow already overflowing. Instead, Put the money in the hands of those struggling to find the CAUSES of cancer. Preventive medicine is always the better route. Microbes, particularly viruses have been found “causitive” yet no BIG money flows into vaccine manufacture (except for HPV which took 70 yrs even though its role in cancer was known). A vaccine against the HERPES group should be a first priority.

Without Novartis on board this will never make it
They need to roster the big players in Oncology and then move it out to the NCI institutions
The institutions will accept any offer as long as it is painless and fast. The 6 out of 46 PharmaCos are a good start now lets see how NCI messes it up
Dr D (surgical oncologist)